Earlier posts (here and here) have addressed the chronically abysmal condition of Houston’s Harris County Jail. As noted in the posts, local politicians have an amazing propensity for blaming others rather than addressing the causes for an unpopular problem and resolving them in a responsible manner. Recently, the County Commissioners voted to throw some money at one of the symptoms of the jail’s problems (i.e., serious overcrowding), but there still appears to be no meaningful action being taken on addressing why the jail’s problems have continued to fester for decades.
Into that vacuum of action, Scott Henson over at Grits for Breakfast files this first in a series of posts that analyzes Harris County bail policies and their contribution to the jail’s overcrowding. As Scott notes:

According to a recent consultant’s report (download pdf), a major reason is clear: A shift in bail policy over the last decade to require cash bond in more cases instead of personal bond, or releasing defendants on their promise to later appear in court. Half of all inmates presently in the Harris County Jail are awaiting trial; a large proportion couldn’t make bail.
Though other factors are also at play, much of the Harris County Jail’s overincarceration crisis can be explained by this shift in policy. In other words, Harris County’s jail overcrowding crisis is a self-inflicted wound.

Read Scott’s entire piece, and his future posts on this issue will be noted. As noted in the previous posts, the horrid condition of the Harris County Jail is an embarrassing reflection of our community’s values. This is a problem for which all Houstonians should unite and demand resolution once and for all.